Daily Sitka Sentinel

Littlefield Wins Second Pro Boxing Match

By GARLAND KENNEDY

Sentinel Sports Editor

In his second-ever professional boxing match, Sitka’s Hunter Littlefield lost the first round of his weekend bout in Seattle, but dominated in the next two and won the match.

His opponent, Andi Reyes of Spokane, came out swinging and judges gave him the first round on points. But Littlefield was good for the long haul, crediting his victory to endurance training and cardio fitness.

“The first round had me a bit nervous,” Littlefield said in an interview with the Sentinel. “Since I was more of a thicker, wider opponent, I wasn’t expecting him to want to sit there and just swing. But right off the bat he was throwing as hard as he could and ended up rocking me a couple of times in the first round. I lost the first round, but he couldn’t keep up with the pace that he was going. And by 30 seconds into the second round, I was winning.”

Hunter Littlefield, of Sitka, poses for a shot with his victor’s belt after beating Spokane’s Andi Reyes in a boxing match over the weekend in Seattle. (Photo provided)

In his boxing world, Littlefield is “The Ginga Ninja” for his mop of bright red hair. He trains with the Legendary Boxing Club in Seattle and fights in the 163-pound weight class.

“After the first round, the match kept going and I was landing more and more punches. More were landing,” Littlefield recalled. “I was throwing more and he wasn’t throwing as many back, just because he couldn’t keep up with that pace.”

As round three commenced, Littlefield pressed his advantage.

“I landed about five punches in a row back to back and then we went to go and he just turned around and fell against the ropes,” he said. With Reyes done, Littlefield claimed a win.

It was the Ginga Ninja’s second professional boxing match – and his second win. Littlefield won his professional debut last December in Anchorage.

A recent graduate of Sitka High School, he lives in Tacoma where he is studying to become a biomedical technician at Bates Technical College. He’s close to earning his certificate, and plans to spend some time in Sitka this summer working for SEARHC. While here he plans to help his father, Victor Littlefield, train local boxers. The elder Littlefield runs the local boxing gym and taught the sport to his son.

The son is still considering his options for a career.

“I love Sitka, and it’s definitely really hard for me to not choose SEARHC – and SEARHC is definitely one of the options I’m choosing right now,” he said. “There’s a couple of companies down in Tacoma that I’m debating working for, but SEARHC is definitely up there on trying to decide where I want to kind of set up my life.”

Outside school, boxing has consumed much of his personal life. His gym in Seattle emphasizes cardio fitness.

“It feels good,” Littlefield said. “I put a lot of time and effort into this (match). I was working out twice a day. Once or twice a day on a very strict diet... We focus more on endurance cardio and technique. We want to be able to just go, go, go all three rounds and not stop. Not be tired at all. Working on footwork and just being able to land a punch, timing. Knowing when to throw and how hard to throw… I’d say endurance is one of our keys.”

Being away from Sitka hasn’t been easy.

“I miss the woods, I miss the ocean, I miss everything from the smell, even the tap water. Everything. I miss the environment, people, the community,” he said.